About Kids on the Block

The mission of Kids on the Block, a program of STARS, is to educate children, as well as the broader community, about health and social concerns that affect their lives. Using puppets and other teaching tools, the Kids on the Block program promotes understanding and acceptance of all children and adults regardless of their differences. The purpose of our program is to educate children and adults on psychosocial issues that plague our society such as learning differences, child abuse and violence prevention, substance abuse, social and safety issues, disability awareness, medical differences and educational differences. These problems, as determined by the U. S. Department of Education, are barriers to student learning and must be addressed in order for a student to successfully reach established academic goals and develop life skills that lead to successful citizenry.

Demographics

Kids on the Block programs target children and youth in kindergarten through sixth grades in Davidson County as well as Cannon, Dickson, Montgomery, Rutherford, Sumner, Williamson and Wilson counties. During the 2010-2011 school year, Kids on the Block made 452 presentations to nearly 40,000 school children and numerous teachers and counselors throughout the Middle Tennessee region. These constituents represent a wide variety of racial and ethnic makeup. Kids on the Block actively seeks to promote access, equity and inclusiveness and discourages discrimination of any sort.